US senators are meeting during the weekend for the first time since the government shutdown began over a month ago, but hopes for a bipartisan agreement on how to resolve the impasse appeared to recede as Republican senators floated a proposal unacceptable to Democrats: scrapping the ACA, called Obamacare.
Growing Consequences of Federal Closure
The effect on Americans from the longest shutdown of the federal government in history deepened on Saturday, as federal workers went unpaid, airlines were forced to cancel flights and SNAP benefits have been postponed for 42 million Americans.
President's Plan from Florida Resort
As Saturday's session got started, GOP senators embraced a suggestion made on online platforms early Saturday by Donald Trump from his resort in West Palm Beach, for government payments to be substituted by health savings accounts.
"My recommendation is to Senate Republicans that the Hundreds of Billions of Dollars currently being sent to money sucking Insurance Companies in order to save the ineffective Healthcare provided by ObamaCare, BE SENT DIRECTLY TO THE PEOPLE SO THAT THEY CAN PURCHASE THEIR OWN, MUCH BETTER, HEALTHCARE," Trump posted.
GOP Endorsement
Multiple Republican senators praised the plan, which is similar to a replacement for Obamacare put forward in 2017.
"We're going to replace this failing program with something that is truly better for the consumer," one senator stated.
Another senator praised Trump's proposal on online platforms, and displayed a giant blow-up of Trump's post as he addressed on the Senate floor.
"I'm writing the bill right now," a third senator wrote in response to Trump's suggestion. "We need to stop public funds from going to carriers and instead give it directly to Americans in health savings accounts and let them buy the health care they want."
Opposition Response
Opposition lawmakers expressed concerned responses to Trump's proposal.
"Essentially, Donald Trump's 'concept of a plan' for health care is yet another cynical attempt to repeal Obamacare," one Democratic senator stated. "This is the same failed Republican plan that's been rejected by voters and Congress."
Another lawmaker responded to the censure of carriers by writing: "Oh, Trump and the Republicans dislike how the big, bad insurance companies are overcharging Americans. Seriously? Then I welcome your support for universal healthcare."
Continuing Negotiations
The Senate adjourned without finding a resolution, but Senate Republican leaders have signaled an openness to an developing plan from a handful of centrist lawmakers to terminate the closure in return for a future vote on the ACA subsidies.
One Democratic senator, who is spearheading the negotiations among centrists, said that Democrats "need another way ahead" after Republicans turned down an offer to reopen the government and extend the subsidies for a year.
Another leading Democratic senator persisted in maintaining that Republicans should agree to a one-year extension of the subsidies before discussing the future of the subsidies.
"Inaction is irresponsible because people will go into debt, people will become uninsured, people will get more ill," the senator stated in a floor speech. "That's what will happen if this Congress fails to act."
Partisan Dynamics
Not one of the Republican senators seemed to address the fact that patients would still need to buy coverage from the same insurance companies, or that Republican lawmakers need the support of eight Democrats to reopen the government, and the idea of repealing and substituting Obamacare with savings accounts is unlikely to earn a single Democratic vote.
Several analysts suggested that the core of such a plan would eliminate the ACA's mandate that insurance companies cover patients with existing health issues.
After his golf outing, Trump returned to his private club and reiterated on his insistence that Republicans stop seeking compromise and try instead to eliminate and replace Obamacare with a version of the plan that failed to garner enough backing in 2017.
